Comparison of Four Wisconsin Card Sorting Test Scoring Guides With Novice Raters

The utility of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) is predicated on the ability of its users to accurately administer and score the task. This study evaluated four different WCST scoring guides in an effort to determine the most reliable and accurate instructional set for use by individuals previously unfamiliar with scoring the WCST. The study targeted the scoring of perseverative responses, as this is the most difficult of the measures to learn. Novice raters using one of four methods (original manual alone, decision tree [key guide] with the original manual, written supplement with the original manual, and revised manual only) and expert raters each scored 20 technically difficult WCST protocols. The results demonstrated that novice raters who used the written supplement to score these difficult protocols were as reliable and accurate in scoring perseverative responses as the experts. Those who used either the original manual alone or the key guide with the manual were less reliable. Scoring perseverative responses with the revised manual's instructions was considerably more reliable and accurate than scoring with the original manual. However, scoring performance for perseverative responses with the revised manual did not achieve that of the novice raters using the written supplement. It is recommended that scoring accuracy for cognitive measures be empirically validated rather than assumed.